I am going to be speaking on December 4th 2013 at a symposium on 3d digital archaeology. The symposium, organised by Renato Perucchi and Elizabeth Colantoni at the University of Rochester, will discuss state-of-the-art multidisciplinary issues bridging the humanities and the applied sciences related to 3D modeling, visualization, and analysis including engineering evaluations of complex archaeological structures and data.

I will be talking under the broad title “Contemporary Themes in 3D Archaeological Computing”. The paper will focus on examples drawn from our many years of work at Portus. I will introduce the reconstruction workflow described at the time of our BBC documentary, and then consider ways in which the use of such digital approaches can inform and re-orientate efforts to communicate archaeological knowledge. Alongside the learning opportunities on site provided by the Portus Field School we are in the process of developing a Massive Open Online Course for Portus and interactive tours. We have also been exploring a range of approaches for conveying a sense of spatial engagement with Portus for learners and other virtual visitors. 3d and imaging tools, alongside mobile/ pervasive media and web science all have significant roles to play as we attempt to provide meaningful rather than superficial (3d) interactions.